The Consequences Of Gun Crime

Gun crime

The article titled ‘1,400 shots fired and 29 dead: Shocking scale of London gun crime revealed,’ issued in the newspaper ‘Evening Standard,’ was published on Tuesday 7th October 2014 and written by Martin Bentham. The article contains information about a ‘freedom of information request’ that has revealed new statistics for gun crime in London. The journalist evidently wants the public to be surprised by the use of the language ‘disturbing extent of gun crime,’ the journalist also points to the ‘authorities ability to curb the flow of illegal weapons.’

Gun crime is extremely bad as it causes violence, inhumanity and encourages youngsters to become influenced by ruthless behaviour. Witnessing peers using guns will enable youngsters in the society to believe that it is acceptable to copy their actions. In some areas, adolescents are observing the police committing

crimes.

Does this mean that the police are promoting gun crime? Does the youth think it’s acceptable to commit crimes because they see the police as role models? Gun crime results to major consequences which leaves people traumatised and distressed for life. The most severe result of gun crime is death for the victims; this is portrayed in the article when 15-year-old Shereka Fab-Ann Marsh was shot by her teenage boyfriend. It was reported that he fired the gun by accident and he was ‘hiding the gun for a man in his twenties.’ How can this information even correlate? Why would you own a gun if you don’t an intention to use it? It is not possible to accidently shoot someone. It must have been an intentional murder. Shereka Fab-Ann Marsh’s boyfriend was 15 years old. This creates an image that maybe education and the media had a role in his violent life. If the

teenager was educated, he wouldn’t have any intention to shoot his girlfriend as he would know it would be morally wrong. Media has a huge role in his life because maybe the boy was idolising a celebrity and hence replicating their actions. ‘Police found two photos of him posing with a gun.’ Why would you pose with a gun knowing that it does not belong to you? Is it because he wanted to gain popularity and earn a high status and respect through sharing his images. Did he want to express that he’s affluent by owning a gun? Did he not show any remorse through his actions?

Within the article, it argues the point that crime is only occurring in 5 boroughs of London. Talking about 5 boroughs of London does not give an accurate picture and does not imply anything. Hence gun crime occurring in 5 boroughs cannot be generalised to all areas. As a reader, a degree of bias is shown and creates an image about the societies in these areas on London. The Met Police statistics show that ’29 people died as a result of the shootings, and 760 sustained injuries.’ These 760 people are innocent people who did not deserve this treatment. The injuries ranged from ‘minor damage to potentially life changing wounds,’ does this portray that existence with these life changing wounds is worse than death? The article also talks about the London riots which occurred in the year 2011. The London riots caused 5 deaths, injury of 16+ members of the public and 186 police officers. Did these humans deserve this? Was the year of the London riots just an excuse to use more guns? There has been a 40% increase in gun crimes after the 1997 firearms amendment; however that does not conclude anything. There might have been more than 40% of gun crime rise before the 1997 firearms amendment. Detective Chief Superintedent Dean Haydon stated “We focus our efforts on known violent offenders.” This declaration is expressing that the police force is only showing attention to the offenders and not future offenders. You never know when someone is going to commit a crime hence you should approach everyone and not be biased at a certain group.

There are many countries in which gun crime is present. These countries include America, Brazil and Mexico. There are many factors which can lead to people using a gun as a way of committing major crimes. Some people commit crimes because they want to gain wealth as they are living in poverty. Living in poverty is a disaster for everyone but that does not mean that you should commit crimes in order to gain wealth. Some people want to keep a gun for security purposes, that’s fine but a number of factors should be verified before they receive the gun for safety.
These factors include checking if the individual is mentally stable, ensuring that there is enough character references to verify that the individual is in good mental condition. One last factor which should be considered is ensuring that the individual is who they are. There ID should be verified to make sure they are not carrying an alias. All these factors should be considered before anyone is allowed to keep a gun for safety purposes. It is important that these factors are obliged by because in a case study which was addressed in the article a 20-year-old boy named Thomas Hamilton went into a primary school in 1997 and killed sixteen children and one teacher at Dunblane Primary School. After doing this horrendous act, he committed suicide. Why did he do this? Was he mentally disturbed? He killed 17 humans in a gruesome act of murder and then ended his life. Hence, it is vital that certain factors are considered before an individual gets granted permission to keep a gun. Some people want to keep a gun for vulnerability or to be an aggressor. In these three countries people commit gun crimes to gain power through promotion of fear. They want to gain territories and use the guns for rivalry and conflict. But is this the correct way of solving problems?

In conclusion,